When does Sucks go year-round?

“It does sadden me to hear that Sucks in 32oz bottle sits on shelves in some locations.” Me too, for the jealous reason that if this beer sits the probability of obtaining fresh product is greatly diminished. Retailers are not going to order newer, fresher product until they sell off the old stuff; the net results is that fresh product will not be available for sale.

“I know what would make ALOT of Lagunitas fans happy, though I doubt it will ever happen, as Tony has been very outspoken about it. Pint sized cans”. Well, pint sized cans are better than quart bottles but even better would be 12 ounce bottles located within a 6-pack cardboard holder.

"I respect his stance and staying true to his values,..” Why? That stance is resulting in ‘shelf turds’ and non-fresh product being available for sale to beer consumers. Is this a situation worthy of respect?

Cheers!

 

IMO, if Lagunitas has been receiving great customer input on Sucks over last few years on how awesome the value is for 6 packs, how great an IPA it is and also how Hop Stupid large bottles, despite the cheap pricepoint and good reviews, frequently doesn't move well in alot of bottle shops and gets old quickly on shelves, what possible market research/company strategy led Tony to feel putting Sucks in 32oz format year around was a good idea? Is it just a short sighted quick profit grab? I'm kinda lost on this one. Keg it, put in 6 packs year round or keep it as seasonal.

 

Jack, the can and bottle argument will never be settled properly, so I will just let that alone. I like cans, you like bottles. Fair enough.

In regards to a business owner sticking to his values, I feel that his personal values and ethics helped create beer that we have come to love. So therefor, I respect that. Companies that do not stand by their values tend to produce a lower quality product and/or just sell out, IMO of course. Just wait and see how long it takes before Goose Island goes down the crapper. (I won't know because I will never buy a bottle of GI or BC again.) BUT, it does not mean I entirely agree with Lagunitas not putting beer in cans. There are "green" options out there. 100% recycled can perhaps? So perhaps I should say, I respect his stance, but I wish he would reconsider.

Thanks for a nice clean honest, non-hotheaded reply Jack

 

$7 for two pints of good beer. Not sure what's not to like there.

 

“In regards to a business owner sticking to his values, I feel that his personal values and ethics helped create beer that we have come to love.” Well, when it comes to the product inside the package (i.e., the beer), I certainly agree with that.

Do you think a company (owner) should listen to his customers when they express their opinions on what packaging they prefer; i.e., 12 ounce bottles in a 6-pack holder vs. a 32 ounce bottle?

Cheers!

 

Jack, many if not all breweries do listen to their customers. They listen to the distributors who are their customers and the distributors listen to the retialers who are their customers and the retailers listen to folks like us who are their customers. Some breweries have enough clout to pay attention to us but many don't. But as you have pointed out more than once, the customer is always right. So in the case of packging decisions we are in third place and have to influence the retailers.

 

Also hitting Madison.

 

The day I can purchase 32 oz bottles of sucks here in Maryland for $ 8.00 a pop, give me ten.

 

Tom,

Tom Magee (the owner of Lagunitas) posts on BA threads; his BA name is DogTown.

In past threads he stated he wanted to package Sucks in 32 ounce bottles because he thought it would be ‘cool’ to use a package format similar to Malt Liquor beers.

A number of BAs expressed a preference to not have such a high alcohol beer in such a large format. Tom would reply with something like: you can share this beer. Some BAs would respond with something like: well, my wife doesn’t like hoppy beers so it would only be me drinking this beer. Could you please package it in 12 ounce bottles?

I would post things like: well, if you feel hell bent on packaging in 32 ounce bottles could you also still make this beer available to beer consumers who prefer a smaller format for a beer of this strength.

In some of his posts, Tom Magee would get downright rude with BAs (I don’t think business owners should be rude to their customers; just my viewpoint).

It seems that another ‘result’ of the decision to package in the 32 ounce format is old product ‘crowding’ the shelves.

Because Tom Magee is a BA who reads and posts on BA (his last post was Sept. 5, 2014; 7 days ago) he really doesn’t need the ‘whisper down the lane’ (customer to retailer to distributor to him) approach here. He had the privilege to discuss this topic with his end customers in past BA threads on this topic. The fact of the matter is he had a differing opinion than many of his customers and made a business decision because he thought it was ‘cool’.

Look, I understand that Tom Magee is an individual marches to the beat of a different drummer but it really would behoove all of us (Lagunitas Brewing Company folks, Lagunitas beer customers, etc.) if business owners would be more accommodating to the wishes of his end customers.

To put a finer point on the above discussion, Tom Magee did not bottle Sucks in 32 ounces bottle because wholesale distributors or retailers were requesting it; he did it for his own personal reasons.

Cheers!

Jack

 

And I keep finding new reasons to love this beer and the company that brews it.

 

Who is Tom Magee?

 

"Tom Magee (the owner of Lagunitas)".

Cheers!

 

It's Tony Magee

 

I haven't seen any quarts in Orange County but both Las Vegas total wines had 1-3 month old quarts for 7$ lets just say I was drinking the best beer at any casino I went to.

 

Whoops!

My apologies for not getting the name right.

My edit time period just ran out; Gee-Whiz?

Well, my apologies to Tony Magee for my error in my above post.

Cheers!

 

Jack, I've seen some of that stuff, from him, but just as one swallow does not a summer make, one particualrly outspolken brewery owner of one of the more successful craft breweries in the US does not adequately represent the whole industry. Now if Koch from Sam Adams behaved that way I personally would pay more attention so I think you can wrote off what Magee says as being him, not craft brewers in general.

Edit: Notice the key words in your post, "end customers." He actually wan't discussing it with the customers who actually buy from from the brewery, nor was he discussing it with a reprsentative group of his end customers. He made a business decsion and chose to stick with it. You don't buy his product. He doesn't much care because so many others do.

 

Tom,

My question to @turbotype several posts above of: “Do you think a company (owner) should listen to his customers when they express their opinions on what packaging they prefer; i.e., 12 ounce bottles in a 6-pack holder vs. a 32 ounce bottle?” was specifically intended for the case of Tony Magee (Lagunitas).

In other words: Do you think that Lagunitas (Tony Magee) should listen to his end customers when they express their opinions on what packaging they prefer; i.e., 12 ounce bottles in a 6-pack holder vs. a 32 ounce bottle?”

I am still hoping that turbotype will respond since I am interested in his view on this topic.

Cheers!

Jack

P.S. Thanks for teaching me the saying of “one swallow does not a summer make”, I must admit that I have never studied Aristotle.

Edit:
“end consumer

noun [C]

› a person who buys and uses a product or service:”

 

Jack,

1) I was responding first to your post and then your your post made in response to mine so what you said to some one else was not a concern or factor in my post or reply. I still say *many* do listen to their customers.

2) My personal reaction to the question you asked someone else is that Tony Magee runs his business the way he sees fit and lives with the end consequences. If he choose not to listen to me personally that's his problem or success. Just as the customer has the right to chose or not choose so has he.

3) Re your PS, You obviously already knew some about Aristotle if you spotted the origin of that phrase.

 

He also said he was putting Sucks in 32 oz. to lower demand.

 

He also said he chose 32oz bottles for home brewers to use in homebrewing